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A. This is a book about the ambush of love. Henry Hayward feels cleaved in two, split apart, a stacked cord of wood that should have been a tree. The novel is about him becoming a tree again.

Q. Why did you write this book?

A. Someone told me that, as a child, he used to walk to school following a frozen river. One morning, beneath his feet, through the clear ice, he saw a beaver swim past. The novel was my attempt to give that image resonance.

Q. Is there another book you’ve read recently that you’ve enjoyed?

A. Thomas Hardy’s The Dynasts. It’s a slog, but his descriptions of the Battle of Waterloo are terrific. Pregnant women, in the rear guard of the action, tear lint apart to make bandages for the wounded soldiers — men whose jackets are bleeding red dye from the rain.

Q. What should readers expect from your appearance at the Vancouver Writers Fest?

A. That I will profoundly move them, illuminating and articulating the very kernels of truth that make their lives worth living. Of course, if that doesn’t happen, I doubt they can get their money back.

Q. Is there any particular thing that you’re looking forward to doing while in Vancouver?

A. I’d like to read Emily Carr’s newly discovered Alaska diary. If that’s not available, then you can find me stuffing my face on Commercial Drive.

Michael Winter is appearing at the Vancouver Writers Fest in Rocking Again: From the Rock II — Thursday, Oct. 24, at 8 p.m. in Studio 1398, and in Faces in the Conflict — Friday, Oct. 25, at 1 p.m. in Waterfront Theatre. His novel Minister Without Portfolio is longlisted for the Giller Prize this year.

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